M101 A3 Build Utility, Camping, etc.

[harleyhouse]

Nice work on the fender lips and tongue. It will make the trailer more user friendly.

 

[dino2000]

picking up my 101 tomorrow. when you all removed the surge brakes, did you strip out the drums and backing plates too?
I'll be towing mine with an RRC. Newb seeking knowledge.
Thanks in advance, Dino

 

[ALL4GLH]

You can remove the surge without having to remove the drums and backing plates. I kept mine in so that I could keep the handbrake functional.

 

[harleyhouse]

Mine were junk so I stripped everything off. If you want hand brakes keep the drums and wheel hardware.

 

[justinh]

Well we left SoCal on Wednesday the 12th, late afternoon, made it to Atlanta in time to spend Father's day with my dad.

The trailer worked out great and towed beautifully even without the electric brakes. We went to Zion, North Rim, up to Colorado and took the trailer to the top of Bridal Veil Falls in Telluride then offroad from Telluride to Ouray. I couldn't be happier with the trailer and how it worked out. I'm hoping to finish the details on it this summer and get it painted before we go back west in August.

 

[harleyhouse]

Nice combo....It sits nice with the Toyota.
Matching paint and wheels to come?

 

[justinh]

Nice combo....It sits nice with the Toyota.
Matching paint and wheels to come?

I'm on the fence about the paint. It may end up white and black or grey and black. I'd love to paint it to match but I've got a reputation for changing vehicles (often). If I can find a close green then I will definitely make it green with black trim. If not it will be something more generic.

The wheels are matching lug pattern (toyota steel wheels) and could be swapped to the car in a pinch or from the car to the trailer (I've got a full size matching vehicle spare and wheel underneath the car). It would require some creative lugnut work. Ideally I'd like aluminum toyota wheels on it. The liklihood of getting an exact matching wheel is slim as the wheels on my 4runner are from a limited edition FJ cruiser and are discontinued and used they command way too much to spend on a trailer wheel!

 

[dino2000]

do the bulbs need to be changed out as well?

Found this on another website, it was a good start:

Pin A - Convoy light (one of the blackout lights)
Pin B - Left Turn (wire is Red with a White Stripe) Tag# 22 461
Pin C - Convoy light
Pin D - Ground (wire is Black with a Red stripe) No tag number - ground lug
Pin E - Tail (running) Lights (Wire is Red) Tag# 21 489
Pin F - Spare
Pin G - Not Used
Pin H - Convoy Light
Pin I -
Pin J - Right Turn (wire is Black with White stripe) Tag# 22 460
Pin K - Aux Feed (I put 12v to this) Tag# 37
Pin L - Not Used
Pin M -
Pin N -

Another method, although a little backwoods, will work. I used a spare 4 wire harness with bullet connectors crimped and then pulled apart the connectors at the junction of the trailer and just went one by one to see what had what function. Then I used a multi-meter to see what connector went to what color wire. Took me about 20 minutes to get it done. I did that before I found the above references. If I used above it would have taken me less time.

 

[ALL4GLH]

Yes. You'll need the 12v bulbs. 1156 and 97 if I remember correctly.

 

[justinh]

I got some OEM Toyota 5 spoke 4runner wheels and 1.25" wheel spacers off of a wrecked 4runner I bought to part out. This will allow me to run the same lugnuts for the wheels on all 6 tires (I could have changed the studs out on the trailer axle but I have the spacers so I'll probably use them as long as they still keep the tires inside the fenders.

With the steel wheels on the trailer and the SAE wheel studs and lugs I'd have had some issues if I needed to put my aluminum spare on since it uses the shoulder lugnuts not the acorn style.

 

[justinh]

To update this thread, the trailer is seeing some utility use more than anything right now. I'm glad I have one this size, it would be great to have a dedicated "camping" trailer but I don't need to build or store two trailers. This size is still great for my needs and is working out great for around the house projects, etc. I'm hoping to take another long trip this summer with it in tow.

I finally replaced my stolen welder and got my garage wired, going to get back on it soon and finish up the part of the project I didn't get to finish before leaving CA last summer.

 

[John Galt]

Mine tends to get more utility use than anything as well. Only go camping a few times a year. Been a great firewood hauler this year